Cassette case

ABSTRACT

A storage container for a tape cartridge having a separate bottom section and a separate pouch-like cover hinged to the bottom part and swingable between an open and closed position. The bottom part carries each pivot pin on which the separate pouch-like part swings. Each pivot pin is carried on oppositely disposed side walls and guided, during assembly, by a complemental tapering groove into a pin hole formed in the respective side wall of the cover, spreading the side walls of the bottom section so that when the pins and pin holes are registered the pins will snap into the respective pin hole. The cover side walls are provided with outwardly projecting ribs adjacent the pin holes which engage in groove in the side wall when the cover is in the closed position to retain the cover closed and against the end edges of the side wall to support the cover in a substantially horizontal plane when held in a person&#39;&#39;s hand.

United States Patent Gellert 1 Aug. 28, 1973 CASSETTE CASE PrimaryExaminer-William T. Dixson, Jr. 75 Inventor: "jabs:'fiiaeieiieiaraaiib;Ronald Rlches et Ontario, Canada [57] ABSTRACT A storage container for atape cartridge having a separate bottom section and a separatepouch-like cover hinged to the bottom part and swingable between an openand closed position. The bottom part carries each pivot pin on which theseparate pouch-like part swings. Each pivot pin is carried on oppositelydisposed side walls and guided, during assembly, by a complements]tapering groove into a pin hole formed in the respective side wall ofthe cover, spreading the side walls of the bottom section so that whenthe pins and pin holes are registered the pins will snap into therespective pin hole. The cover side walls are provided with outwardlyprojecting ribs adjacent the pin holes which engage in groove in theside wall when the cover is in the closed position to retain the coverclosed and against the end edges of the side wall to support the coverin a substantially horizontal plane when held in a person's hand.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 28, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet BCASSETTE CASE LIST OF PARTS cover wall 11 configured wall 12 back coverwall 13 cover side walls 14 cover side walls 15 side walls of part A 16side walls of part A 17 front wall 18 bottom wall 19 pivots 20 pivots 21pivot holes 22 pivot holes 23 tapered slots 24 tapered slots 25 slots 26slots 27 tapered rib 28 tapered rib The invention relates to astorage'case for a cartridge or cassette of film, magnetic tape or thelike of the type disclosed in Canadian Patent 765,271 dated Aug. 15,1967 to Schoenmakers and its corresponding US. Pat. No. 3,272,325 datedSept. 16, 1966.

Because of the nature of the construction of the aforesaid storage case,the bottom section and the pouch-like cover have to be hand assembled toform the storage case. It is an object of the present invention toprovide the bottom section and the pouch-like cover with a constructionthat can be readily machine assembled immediately following the moldingstep or by hand in a much faster manner than the aforesaid construction.

When the pouch-like part of the prior case is moved to open the case,the cover can drop to a position, when the hand releases its hold on thecover, which will allow the cassette to drop out onto the floor.

A further object is to provide a structure which will prevent the coverso dropping and thus avoid the ejection of the cassette under theconditions mentioned.

In a storage container for a tape cartridge having a first open bottomsection having a pair of side walls of equal length, an end wallconnected with each said side wall at one end thereof, a bottom wallconnected with said end wall and said side walls at one edge thereof,said bottom wall extending for only a portion of the length of said sidewalls defining a cut-away in said first receptacle portion whereby saidwalls extend freely beyond said bottom wall; a pouch-like cover having-acover wall substantially overlying said side walls over the entirelength thereof in the closed position of said first and second containerportions, a configured wall in spaced substantially parallel relationwith said lid wall, said configured wall having the same shape as saidcut-away and being dimensioned for closely fitting within said cut-awayin the said closed position, side wall means connected with both saidlid wall and configured wall at the aligned edges thereof defining apouch, said side wall means fitting between the freely extendingportions of the side walls, each side wall having a pivot pin hole,means hingedly connecting the cover to the bottom section for pivotalmovement between open and closed positions, said means comprising aninwardly projecting hinge pin mounted on the freely extending portion ofthe side wall and a tapered lead-in-slot formed in each side wall, meansin registra tion with the respective pin, said lead-in-slot being formedin the outside face of the respective wall means and extending from therespective hole to the free edge of the said wall means, whereby thebottom section and the cover are assembled by sliding the cover onto thebottom with the two oriented to the closed position.

The above and other features, objects and advantages of the presentinvention will be fully understood from the following descriptionconsidered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a storage container in whichthe two halves of the case are separated;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 in which the two halvesof the case are shown assembled with the cover in the open position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the case taken on the line 3-3 ofFIG. 4 but partly separated to show details of constructions;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the case in closed position;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation, with the cover in closedposition but with cover and bottom section partly separated;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation with the cover in closed positionbut completely assembled; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-section on the line 88 of FIG. 7.

Referring to the drawing, a storage case consisting of syntheticmaterial comprises two parts, A and B, the part A being the bottomsection and the part B being the pouch-like cover. The pouch-like coverconsisting of cover wall 10, a configured wall 11 in spaced parallelrelationship to the cover wall 10, back cover wall 12 and cover sidewalls 13,14. The part A, the bottom section of the storage case hasthree upstanding side walls, 15,16, front wall 17, and a bottom wall 18which is relieved or cut away so that wall 11 of the lid will lie in therelief and thus in the plane of the wall 18 when the case is closed. Thewall 11 of the partB therefore becomes a portion of the bottom wall ofthe case when it is closed.

The part A and part B are hingedly connected together by means of pivots19,20 formed on the extending portions of the side walls 15,16 and holes21,22 formed in the side walls 13,14 respectively which receive thepivots, 19,20. The outside face of the side walls 13,14 are formed withtapered lead-in-slots 23,24 which run from the free front edge of theside walls 13,14 respectively to the respective pivot holes 21,22. Thebottom of the slots are tapered so that the thick end is adjacent therespective slot while the opposite end is shallower than the height ofthe respective pin. The walls of the slot are not parallel but arespaced wider at the open end and narrower at the end adjacent the pivotpin.

This structure makes it possible to place the parts A and B in theposition shown in FIG. 1 and then slide them together whereupon thepivot pins 19,20 will be guided into the slots 23,24 and these taperedslots will spread the free ends of the side walls 15,16 and as soon asthe pivot pins 19,20 register with the holes 21,22, they will dropthereinto and the two parts will be hingedly connected together.Separation of the parts is accomplished by spreading the extendingportion of one of the walls 15,16 until one of the pivot pins arewithdrawn from its respective hole. The parts can then be separated.

A means is also provided for retaining the pouch-like cover in theclosed position and for holding the cover in its open position atapproximately 180 from the closed position. To this end, the extendingportions of the side walls 15,16 are each provided with a transverselyextending slot 25,26 positioned so that the pivots 19,20 are centered inthe portion between the slots and the free end of the respective sidewalls 15,16. Projecting out from the outer face of each side wall is atapered rib 27,28 located to register with slots 25,26 respectively whenthe cover is in the closed position, see FIG. 4, and abut against thefree end of the side walls when in the open position shown in FIG. 2.The ribs 27,28 are tapered so that when the cover is swung from the opento the closed position, the free ends of the side walls 15,16 will bespread slightly to allow the ribs to be moved into registration with theslots 25,26 without interference from the side walls and when inregistration with the slots, will be held therein by the slight biasingeffect obtained through the flexibility of the extending portions of theside walls. In the open position the ribs 27,28 retain the cover wall insubstantially the same plane as the bottom wall 18. in other words, thepart B can only rotate about 180' relative to the part A. This featureis of particular advantage since the case can be held in one hand,opened by the other hand and the lid or cover retained in a fixedcoplanar position relative to the part A while the said other hand isremoved and used to withdraw the cassette from the pouch-like cover.

What I claim is:

1. In a storage container for a tape cartridge having a first openbottom section having a pair of side walls of equal length, an end wallconnected with each said side wall at one end thereof, a bottom wallconnected with said end wall and said side walls at one edge thereof,said bottom wall extending for only a portion of the length of said sidewalls defining a cut-away in said first receptacle portion whereby saidwalls extend freely beyond said bottom wall; a pouch-like cover having acover wall substantially overlying said side walls over the entirelength thereof in the closed position of said first and second containerportions, a configured wall in spaced substantially parallel relationwith said lid wall, said configured wall having the same shape as saidcut-away and being dimensioned for closely fitting within said cut-awayin the said closed position, side wall means connected with both saidlid wall and configured wall at the aligned edges thereof defining apouch, said side wall means fitting between the freely extendingportions of the side walls, each side wall having a pivot pin hole,means hingedly connecting the cover to the bottom section for pivotalmovement between open and closed positions, said means comprising aninwardly projecting hinge pin mounted on the freely extending portion ofthe side wall and a tapered lead-in-slot formed in each side wall, meansin registration with the respective pin, said lead-in-slot being formedin the outside face of the respective wall means and extending from therespective hole to the free edge of the said wall means, whereby thebottom section and the cover are assembled by sliding the cover onto thebottom with the two oriented to the closed position.

2. A storage container in accordance with claim 1 in which the insideface of each freely extending portion of each side wall is formed with agroove running inwardly from the free edge of each of the side walls andat right angles thereto and a complemental rib on and projectingoutwardly from the outside face of each wall means and extending fromthe cover towards sait slot, said rib being located to engage in thegroove when the cover is in closed position and to abut against the endof the freely extending side walls to restrain the cover pivoting on itsaxis more than from the closed position

1. In a storage container for a tape cartridge having a first openbottom section having a pair of side walls of equal length, an end wallconnected with each said side wall at one end thereof, a bottom wallconnected with said end wall and said side walls at one edge thereof,said bottom wall extending for only a portion of the length of said sidewalls defining a cut-away in said first receptacle portion whereby saidwalls extend freely beyond said bottom wall; a pouch-like cover having acover wall substantially overlying said side walls over the entirelength thereof in the closed position of said first and second containerportions, a configured wall in spaced substantially parallel relationwith said lid wall, said configured wall having the same shape as saidcut-away and being dimensioned for closely fitting within said cut-awayin the said closed position, side wall means connected with both saidlid wall and configured wall at the aligned edges thereof defining apouch, said side wall means fitting between the freely extendingportions of the side walls, each side wall having a pivot pin hole,means hingedly connecting the cover to the bottom section for pivotalmovement between open and closed positions, said means comprising aninwardly projecting hinge pin mounted on the freely extending portion ofthe side wall and a tapered lead-in-slot formed in each side wall, meansin registration with the respective pin, said leadin-slot being formedin the outside face of the respective wall means and extending from therespective hole to the free edge of the said wall means, whereby thebottom section and the cover are assembled by sliding the cover onto thebottom with the two oriented to the closed position.
 2. A storagecontainer in accordance with claim 1 in which the inside face of eachfreely extending portion of each side wall is formed with a grooverunning inwardly from the free edge of each of the side walls and atright angles thereto and a complemental rib on and projecting outwardlyfrom the outside face of each wall means and extending from the covertowards sait slot, said rib being located to engage in the groove whenthe cover is in closed position and to abut against the end of thefreely extending side walls to restrain the cover pivoting on its axismore than 180* from the Closed position.